Help please - received CCJ claim for Lowells

[Coconutmilk]

Hi this is my first post and I am worried!

i have received a N1 form from Northampton County Court today for Lowell Solicitors Ltd for a Tesco Credit Card debt. I am concerned how to get this paid as I can’t afford the full amount straight off (£1922 including the court fee and legal representatives costs). Should I just completed the N9a and hope they agree to the instalment plan? This would mean I would have it lodged on my file I presume?

I acknowedge that I have the debt but went through a marriage breakdown and got evicted two years ago and stupidly buried my head in the sand to letters and phone calls. I can’t temenber the last time I had a letter from Lowell - possibly about three months ago. Just looking for some advice on how to handle this please as I feel sick just worrying about it....

[Amethyst]

Hiya, Try not to worry, you can get this dealt with, and really what can they do to you? Only if you ignore stuff does it escalate so really don't panic about this, it's just a court claim

If you file the admission and offer to pay form then you would have a CCJ registered against you for 6 years so it is best to look into the claim a bit more and then, if appropriate, negotiate an out of court settlement/installment plan without having the CCJ applied.

It sounds like this isn't a very old debt ? IT's a credit card so regualted by the consumer credit act and they will need to provide a copy of the agreement. Do you know when you defaulted on the card payments ? is it on your credit file still ?

Did you not receive a 'letter of claim' with a reply form attached ? ( was that the letter you had 3 months ago? )

Anyway, to start with have a read of the First Steps post - First Steps

and then post back on here with as much detail as you have - and get the claim acknowledged ( should be details on the claim form - bottom right ) with intent to defend in full... just gives you a bit more time to get ducks in a row etc. xxxx

[Coconutmilk]

Thank you. Hopefully this is all correct:
Received claim: Yes

Issue Date: 31st October 2018

Have you acknowledged the claim: Not yet as not sure which option as I would like the opportunity to settle outside of court

Total amount claimed: £1922.50

Claimants name: Lowell Portfolio I Ltd

Solicitors Name: Lowell Solicitors Ltd

Original creditor: Tesco Bank

Original Debt: Credit Card

Particulars of claim: 1) The defendant opened a Tesco Bank Credit Card regulated consumer credit account under reference XXXX on 25/01/2014
2) In breach of the Agreement, the Defendant failed to maintain the required payments and the Agreement was terminated
3) The Agreement was later assigned to the claimant on 24/01/2018 and written notice given to the Defendant
4) Despite repeated requests for payment, the sum of £1,637.37 remains due and outstanding. And the claimant claims (a) the said sum of £1,637.37 (b) interest pursuant to s69 Count Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum from the date of assignment to the date of issue, accruing at a daily rate of £0.359, but limited to one year, being £100.13 (c) costs

Is the debt statute barred No

no letters have been sent yet

I did receive a letter from Lowells but cannot find it and I am sure it was not a letter of claim, but I cannot guarantee that.

[Coconutmilk]

Oh and it would still be on my credit file and default would have been around September 2014

[Amethyst]

Still tick intend to defend in full on the acknowledgement - it isn't binding and solely serves to extend the time you have to get this dealt with.

Particulars of claim: 1) The defendant opened a Tesco Bank Credit Card regulated consumer credit account under reference XXXX on 25/01/2014
2) In breach of the Agreement, the Defendant failed to maintain the required payments and the Agreement was terminated

Strange they aren't putting default in there just termination. Do you know how the account came to close? Missing paying the minimum payments would have resulted in a default rather than a termination.

Your credit file shows default of Sept 2014, so only 9 months after the card was taken out?
As it's all pretty recent they are likely to come up with the documents but you should still request them, it sometimes takes them a bit of time and puts you in a position to negotiate a better settlement out of court if they haven't provided them by the time your defence is due ( which will be around 1st Dec once you've acknowledged the claim)

Acknowledge Claim ( court - MCOL is easiest)
CCA Request ( to Lowell )
CPR 31.14 Request ( to Lowells Solicitors - ask for agreement,notice of assignment - also ask for default notice as even though it's not mentioned there should be one )
Subject Access Request Letter ( to Tesco PF asking for everything they hold relating to that account specifically termination/default notices)

[Coconutmilk]

Weirdly when I logged into MCOL earlier it was fine and now it has said my claim number of password from defence pack is wrong? I hadn’t actually submitted anything - only clicked the acknowledgement and viewed the n9a details - but didn’t acknowledge anything. I will have to call MCOL

[Amethyst]

The system is a bit pants I'm afraid... ringing them is a pain in the butt too as they're a little understaffed. When registering for MCOL did it take you through the Government Gateway registration stuff ? If so you might need to log in with your own password and gov gateway number rather than the one on the form this time.

[Coconutmilk]

Yes I registered with government gateway and can get into MCOL. But when I put in the defence password and claim number it now says it’s incorrect?

[Amethyst]

Okay you might have to resort to calling them in the morning then. You could do it on paper of course.

Be nice and easy if the MCOL system worked. They are working on upgrading it - the new system in place for 'normal' people ( ie not the debt companies ) is pretty nifty and easy to use - I think they're doing that for the dodgy old MCOL system as well... eventually.

[Coconutmilk]

Thank you. I will call them tomorrow and also lodge in paper just to be sure. Maybe the site will work for me tomorrow!

[Coconutmilk]

The site still isn’t working so I will need to acknowledge by post if I cannot get through on the phone. Which box do I complete? The acknowledgment which is listed as I need 28 days from the date of service to prepare my defence or wish to contest the courts jurisdiction? Or the defence form disputing the whole claim? It also says I need to tick one of these boxes:
1) I intend to defend all of this claim
2) I intend to contest the jurisdiction

i am not sure which one I need to tick?

[Coconutmilk]

Got through to MCOL and was told to send the acknowledgment via email if I cannot log in online. Have sent the following email:

To whom it may concern
As the website is not accepting my claim number I have spoken to an operator at Money Claim today - 2nd November 2018, who has advised me to send my claim response in via this email address.

With regards to this claim I INTEND TO DEFEND ALL OF THIS CLAIM

Please therefore take this email as my ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF SERVICE

Yours sincerely


I am am just waiting for the confirmation of them receiving it now and will get on with other bits today.

My aim is to get this settled outside of court in order to make an instalment plan with Lowell.

[Coconutmilk]

Ok have sent off all the requests for information, acknowledged the claim - can someone advise on what I need to do now please?

[Amethyst]

Okay now you want to wait to see if there are any responses to your requests, and around the 25th November look at where you are and decide whether to file a defence or contact the claimant to try negotiate a settlement. Personally I'd file my defence based on the lack of documents before negotiating ( defence will be due end of November/beginning December - 33 days from the date of issue printed on the claim form ) … but it depends what comes back from the claimant.

Then if you want to negotiate to pay in monthly instalments, have your Income / Expenditure sheet prepared ready and know what you would be able to offer and would be affordable long term, then you can do that and ask them to arrange a Consent Order so that the claim is stayed in the court system whilst you make the payments ( but if you default they can apply to court for a judgment ). I don't know what you are considering offering or what your financial circumstances are but it is likely to need to be around £100 a month to keep it from going to a Judgment.

Of course, they may simply decide not to proceed if they can't obtain the documents to continue with the case, but as the debt is relatively recent I think it's more likely you'll be looking to negotiate settlement - so it's just when to time the negotiation to avoid a CCJ really.

Let us know soon as you receive anything from those requests anyway

[Coconutmilk]

Amethyst I have now received this letter informing me of their intention to claim in court - 6 days after the claim form was issued! Should I contact them directly to negotiate a payment plan or wait for defence?